Eva Longoria may be the top candidate on many beauty lists, but the star insists that real attractiveness is skin deep.

The actress, famed for her role as Gabrielle Solis in Desperate Housewives, says that she is "flattered" by the compliments, but believes that real beauty is expressed in a person's actions.

"I hope people perceive me as beautiful in everything I do in relation to works of charity and philanthropy, or political activism," said the 37-year-old actress.

"For me, those are the things that define beauty. The beauty lies mainly on personality, not on skin."

Known for being an ardent Barack Obama supporter in the Democrat campaign as well as the founder of disability charity Eva's Heroes, the actress says that she is incredibly inspired by her mother.

"I do not stop for a minute. My mother raised four daughters, worked as a teacher and every day, at 6pm, cooked dinner for my dad and for us, and every morning we also had the breakfast, so I see my mother and think, 'I'm not doing enough'."